Fewer than 4,800 proof coin sets were sold in 1978 ( compared to ~36,500 in 1975 and ~10,000 in 1976 ). This set featured two coins with special commemorative designs honouring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Manuel Quezon, in Baler ( Aurora province, Luzon ).


Quezon served as the second president of the country, after Aguinaldo, whom he had supported in the struggle for independence against the United States. He was first president of the Philippine Commonwealth, from 1935 - 1944. The Commonwealth official seal is shown on the silver 50 peso coin. After Japan invaded and occupied the country in 1942, he formed a government in exile in the United States. He died from tuberculosis in New York, before full Philippine independence was established in 1946.


The silver 25 pesos coin features the Quezon Memorial Circle, a national park and shrine in Quezon City, which was capital of the Philippines between 1948 - 1976. Its main feature is a mausoleum containing the remains of Quezon and his wife. The monument, completed in 1978, consists of three vertical pylons ( representing Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao ), 66m tall ( representing Quezon’s age when he died ), surrounded by three mourning angels holding sampaguita.

The other coins are identical to those in previous sets.